Polishing Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A polishing apparatus is disclosed. The polishing apparatus has a base, a carrier, an elevating mechanism, a pressing mechanism, and a polishing mechanism. The carrier has a plurality of work pieces disposed thereon. The elevating mechanism is mounted on the base and has a pair of positioning plates. The carrier is disposed on the pair of positioning plates. The pressing mechanism is mounted on the base and has a pair of pressing heads each including an arc-shaped protrusion respectively pressing each of a pair of opposite ends of the carrier against the pair of positioning plates. The polishing mechanism is mounted on the base and polishes the plurality of work pieces.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of PCT International Application No. PCT/IB2015/055666, filed on Jul. 27, 2015, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Chinese Patent Application No. 201410406116.5, filed on Aug. 18, 2014.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a polishing apparatus, and more particularly, to a polishing apparatus for polishing fiber optic ferrule assemblies.

BACKGROUND

Known fiber optic ferrule assemblies generally comprise a ferrule and an optical fiber inserted into an internal hole of the ferrule. The optical fiber can be fixed within the internal hole of the ferrule by adhesive. After fixing the optical fiber within the internal hole of the ferrule, a front end surface of the whole fiber optic ferrule assembly must be ground and polished precisely so as to achieve predetermined optical performance.

In the prior art, to polish the front end surface of the fiber optic ferrule assembly, a plurality of fiber optic ferrule assemblies are clamped and fixed on a carrier. Then, a pressing mechanism presses a pressing head so as to press the carrier against a positioning component. The carrier is generally formed as circle-shaped or square-shaped, and the pressing head presses the carrier at a central portion thereof. However, pressing centrally is only adapted to a circle-shaped or square-shaped carrier, but not a rectangle-shaped carrier. As compared to the circle-shaped or square-shaped carrier, a rectangle-shaped carrier may carry much more fiber optic ferrule assemblies at once so as to improve the efficiency of polishing.

When the end surface of the fiber optic ferrule assembly is ground by a polishing mechanism, the posture of the carrier will change slightly. However, in prior art, the pressing head generally has a flat bottom and thus is not adapted to the change of posture of the carrier, such that the pressing force applied on the carrier is not always perpendicular to the surface of the carrier, thereby affecting the polish accuracy of the fiber optic ferrule assembly. Furthermore, in prior art, the pressing mechanism is not provided with an elastic buffer. Thus, when the carrier is pressed, it is possible that the pressing force exerted on the carrier is suddenly increased from zero to a predetermined value, which will impact the carrier and affect the polish accuracy of the fiber optic ferrule assembly.

SUMMARY

A polishing apparatus according to the invention has a base, a carrier, an elevating mechanism, a pressing mechanism, and a polishing mechanism. The carrier has a plurality of work pieces disposed thereon. The elevating mechanism is mounted on the base and has a pair of positioning plates. The carrier is disposed on the pair of positioning plates. The pressing mechanism is mounted on the base and has a pair of pressing heads each including an arc-shaped protrusion respectively pressing each of a pair of opposite ends of the carrier against the pair of positioning plates. The polishing mechanism is mounted on the base and polishes the plurality of work pieces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a polishing apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the polishing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a pressing head of another polishing apparatus according to the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the pressing head of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S)

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

A polishing apparatus according to the invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises a base 10, a carrier 400, an elevating mechanism 100, a pressing mechanism 200, 300, and a polishing mechanism 20.

The elevating mechanism 100, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is mounted on the base 10 and has a pair of positioning plates 115 for installing and positioning the carrier 400 thereon. The carrier 400 is constructed to carry work pieces 500 to be polished thereon. The carrier 400, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, has a substantial rectangle profile or any other proper profile.

The elevating mechanism 100, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, also comprises a pair of vertical support plates 110, 120 oppositely mounted on the base 10, a pair of vertical slide rails 111 provided on the support plates 110, 120, respectively, a pair of slide blocks 112 slidably mated with the vertical slide rails 111, respectively, a connection beam 114 connecting the pair of slide blocks 112 and the pair of positioning plates 115 so as to simultaneously move the slide blocks 112 and the positioning plates 115, and a first drive 130 mounted on one of the vertical support plates 110, 120 so as to drive the slide blocks 112 to move up and down along the vertical slide rails 111, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1, the slide block 112 is connected to the connection beam 114 by a connection plate 113. The vertical slide rails 111, the slide blocks 112 and the first drive 130 are mounted on outer sides of the vertical support plates 110, 120, respectively. The second drives 210, 220 are mounted on inner sides of the vertical support plates 110, 120, respectively. In an embodiment, the first drive 130 is a linear actuator, for example, an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder or an electrical actuator.

The pressing mechanism 200, 300, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises a pair of second drives 210, 220 mounted on the pair of vertical support plates 110, 120 and driving a pair of pressing heads 310, 320, respectively, so as to press the pair of pressing heads 310, 320 against the surface of the carrier 400. Horizontal pressing plates 230 are disposed on actuation ends of the second drives 210, 220 and upper end surfaces of the pressing heads 310, 320 are attached to the horizontal pressing plates 230, respectively. The second drives 210, 220 each are a linear actuator, for example, an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder or an electrical actuator.

The polishing mechanism 20, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises a horizontal support plate disposed below the positioning plates 115 and a polishing film placed on the horizontal support plate and reciprocatingly moving along with the horizontal support plate.

The work pieces 500 to be polished are fiber optic ferrule assemblies 500. As shown in FIG. 2, each of the fiber optic ferrule assemblies 500 comprises a ferrule 501 and an optical fiber 502 fixed within an internal hole of the ferrule 501.

As shown in FIG. 2, the carrier 400 is positioned on the positioning plates 115 in the manner of pin-hole mating; each of the pair of positioning plates 115 has a positioning pin 115 a extending vertically upward, and each of both ends of the carrier 400 is formed with a positioning passageway 400 a. The positioning pin 115 a of the positioning plate 115 is fitted into the respective positioning passageway 400 a of the carrier 400. Each of the positioning plates 115 has a horizontal extending portion 115 b at an end of which the positioning pin 115 a is located, and both ends of the carrier 400 are placed on the horizontal extending portions 115 b of the pair of positioning plates 115.

The pressing mechanism 200, 300 is mounted on the base 10 and the pair of pressing heads 310, 320 press both ends of the carrier 400 against the pair of positioning plates 115. The pressing heads 310, 320 each have an arc-shaped protrusion 310 a, 320 a, as shown in FIG. 2, for directly contacting a surface of the carrier 400 to directly press the surface of the carrier 400. The arc-shaped protrusions 310 a, 320 a each may be formed as hemisphere-shaped or hemicylinder-shaped.

A plurality of positioning slots are formed in the carrier 400 and the plurality of fiber optic ferrule assemblies 500 are clamped and positioned within the plurality of positioning slots of the carrier 400. The polishing mechanism 20 is mounted on the base 10 and constructed to polish end surfaces of the fiber optic ferrule assemblies 500 mounted on the carrier 400. The polishing mechanism 20 reciprocatingly moves so as to polish the end surfaces of the fiber optic ferrule assemblies 500.

As shown in FIG. 2, there is a small gap between the positioning pin 115 a and the positioning passageway 400 a. In this way, when the end surfaces of the fiber optic ferrule assemblies 500 are ground, the posture of the carrier 400 is permitted to change slightly. The arc-shaped protrusions 310 a, 320 a, meanwhile, ensure that a pressing force exerted on the carrier 400 is always perpendicular to a surface of the carrier 400.

In order to ensure that the pressing force exerted on the carrier 400 is gradually and smoothly increased from zero to a predetermined value, the pressing heads 310, 320 are made of elastic materials. In this way, when the pressing heads 310, 320 are pressed downward, it will be deformed elastically gradually, such that the pressing force exerted on the carrier 400 is gradually and smoothly increased from zero to a predetermined value, rather than impact the carrier 400.

When the polishing film of the polishing mechanism 20 needs to be replaced, the first drive 130 moves the pair of slide blocks 112 upward along with the pair of positioning plates 115 so as to raise the carrier 400 mounted on the pair of positioning plates 115, thereby replacing the polishing film below the carrier 400. After replacing the polishing film, the first drive 130 moves the pair of slide blocks 112 downward along with the pair of positioning plates 115 so as to lower the carrier 400 mounted on the pair of positioning plates 115 until reach a predetermined position.

A pressing head 310′, 320′ of the polishing apparatus 200, 300 according to another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 3. The pressing head 310′, 320′ also comprises an elastic buffer 240. The pressing heads 310′ and 320′, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each have an upper body portion 311 and a lower body portion 312 separated from the upper body portion 311. Receiving grooves, in which the elastic buffer 240 is received, are formed on the upper body portion 311 and the lower body portion 312, respectively. Guiding holes are formed in the upper body portion 311 and the lower body portion 312, respectively, and guide rods 250 are inserted into guiding holes such that during pressing of the elastic buffer 240, the upper body portion 310 is guided to move in the vertical direction with respect to the lower body portion 320. The lower body portion 312 of the pressing heads 310′ or 320′ has an arc-shaped protrusion 312 a for directly contacting a surface of the carrier 400 to directly press the surface of the carrier 400. The arc-shaped protrusion 312 a may be formed as hemisphere-shaped or hemicylinder-shaped. The second drives 210, 220 press and deform the elastic buffer 240, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, through which the pressing heads 310′, 320′ are pressed against the surface of the carrier 400, such that the pressing force exerted on the carrier 400 is gradually increased from zero to a predetermined value.

Advantageously, in the polishing apparatus according to the present invention, the pressing heads 310, 320 each have an arc-shaped protrusion 310 a, 320 a directly pressed against a surface of the carrier 400, thus, the pressing force exerted on the carrier 400 is always perpendicular to the surface of the carrier 400. Furthermore, the pressing mechanism 200, 300 further comprises an elastic buffer 240 so that the pressing force exerted on the carrier 400 does not suddenly increase from zero to a predetermined value, avoiding a disadvantageous impact on the carrier 400. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A polishing apparatus, comprising: a base; a carrier having a plurality of work pieces disposed thereon; an elevating mechanism mounted on the base and having a pair of positioning plates, the carrier disposed on the pair of positioning plates; a pressing mechanism mounted on the base and having a pair of pressing heads each including an arc-shaped protrusion respectively pressing each of a pair of opposite ends of the carrier against the pair of positioning plates; and a polishing mechanism mounted on the base and polishing the plurality of work pieces.
 2. The polishing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the arc-shaped protrusion is hemisphere-shaped or hemicylinder-shaped.
 3. The polishing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of work pieces are a plurality of fiber optic ferrule assemblies each having a ferrule and an optical fiber fixed within an internal hole of the ferrule.
 4. The polishing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the plurality of fiber optic ferrule assemblies are disposed within a plurality of positioning slots in the carrier.
 5. The polishing apparatus of claim 4, wherein the polishing mechanism polishes an end surface of each of the plurality of fiber optic ferrule assemblies.
 6. The polishing apparatus of claim 5, wherein the elevating mechanism has a pair of vertical support plates oppositely mounted on the base, a pair of vertical slide rails disposed on the pair of vertical support plates, a pair of slide blocks slidably mated with the pair of vertical slide rails, a connection beam connecting the pair of slide blocks and the pair of positioning plates, and a first drive mounted on one of the pair of vertical support plates driving the pair of slide blocks to move along the pair of vertical slide rails.
 7. The polishing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the first drive is a linear actuator.
 8. The polishing apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first drive is an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, or an electrical actuator.
 9. The polishing apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the pair of positioning plates has a positioning pin extending vertically upward.
 10. The polishing apparatus of claim 9, wherein each of the pair of opposite ends of the carrier has a positioning passageway, each positioning pin fitted in one positioning passageway.
 11. The polishing apparatus of claim 10, wherein each positioning pin is fitted in one positioning passageway with a gap disposed between the positioning pin and the positioning passageway.
 12. The polishing apparatus of claim 10, wherein each of the positioning plates has a horizontal extending portion, the positioning pin is disposed on an end of the horizontal extending portion and each of the pair of opposite ends of the carrier is disposed on one horizontal extending portion.
 13. The polishing apparatus of claim 5, wherein the polishing mechanism has a horizontal support plate disposed below the pair of positioning plates and a polishing film disposed on the horizontal support plate, the polishing mechanism reciprocatingly moving to polish the end surface of each of the plurality of fiber optic ferrule assemblies.
 14. The polishing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the pressing mechanism has a pair of second drives mounted on the pair of vertical support plates, the pair of second drives driving the pair of pressing heads.
 15. The polishing apparatus of claim 14, wherein the pressing mechanism has an elastic buffer, the pair of second drives pressing and deforming the elastic buffer to press the pair of pressing heads against the carrier.
 16. The polishing apparatus of claim 15, wherein the pair of pressing heads each have an upper body portion and a lower body portion separate from the upper body portion, the elastic buffer disposed in the upper body portion and the lower body portion.
 17. The polishing apparatus of claim 16, wherein the pair of pressing heads each have a pair of guide rods disposed in the upper body portion and the lower body portion guiding vertical motion of the upper body portion with respect to the lower body portion.
 18. The polishing apparatus of claim 14, wherein each of the second drives has a horizontal pressing plate disposed on an end, an upper end surface of each pressing head is attached to one horizontal pressing plate.
 19. The polishing apparatus of claim 18, wherein the pair of pressing heads are formed of an elastic material.
 20. The polishing apparatus of claim 14, wherein each of the pair of second drives is a linear actuator.
 21. The polishing apparatus of claim 20, wherein each of the pair of second drives is an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, or an electrical actuator.
 22. The polishing apparatus of claim 14, wherein the pair of vertical slide rails, the pair of slide blocks, and the first drive are mounted on a pair of outer sides of the pair of vertical support plates.
 23. The polishing apparatus of claim 22, wherein the pair of second drives are mounted on a pair of inner sides of the pair of vertical support plates.
 24. The polishing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the carrier is rectangular. 